The death of a rider, shock resignations, and other things the horse world is talking about

1. The death of a rider in the racing community

The racing community was rocked again this week when a man died in a riding accident at a Newmarket racing stable. The rider was pronounced dead at the scene, at Robert Cowell’s Newmarket yard on Wednesday (29 March). Robert told the Racing Post the team was devastated, adding that the man, who had only been there for two or three weeks, was a “very smiley, cheerful person, an accomplished horseman and quickly became a valued member of our small team”. The news follows the loss of a 25-year-old female employee at Michael Owen’s Manor House Stables in Cheshire, who collapsed and died on Tuesday (28 March).

Read more

2. Resignations at the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA)

Yesterday (30 March) the RDA announced “with great sadness” that Kathryn England, who recently started as CEO, and the charity’s chair of nearly two years, Rachel Medill, had stepped down. “We know that this news will come as a shock to many of you, particularly given Kathryn’s recent appointment and it clearly creates a challenge for all of us within RDA,” a spokesman for the charity said. The spokesman added that over the past few months, “a significant difference of opinion and concern around changes that have been made and the approach to change taken within RDA over the past couple of years” had become apparent.

Read what Ms England and Ms Medill had to say

3. The loss of another Scottish event

The Scottish eventing community was dealt a new blow when it was announced Glamis Castle (5-6 August) had been cancelled. This means the already limited Scottish calendar is reduced to just seven fixtures, across four venues. “Following the huge success of Glamis in 2022, unfortunately the hard reality of running a greenfield site with limited ability to offset rising costs and the uncertainty of major sponsorship – combined with the need to attract large footfall in these uncertain economic times – has led us to the hard decision to not run Glamis this year,” said organiser James Helyer.

Read the full story

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